Toll road hearing may be postponed or canceled

&lt;content&gt;&lt;data format="text/xml"&gt;CONNECTIONS: An aerial photo of the 5 freeway in the area of San Mateo creek area where the proposed extension of the 241 toll road will connect with the I-5.

Organizers at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center have pulled out of an agreement to host a July 25 hearing on the proposed Foothill South toll road, a decision that could postpone the hearing, or even result in no hearing being held at all.

The hearing, in which an attorney with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was to take testimony from members of the public, was part of an appeal by the toll road builder of the denial of the project by the state Coastal Commission in February.

NOAA general counsel Jane C. Luxton, who was to take testimony at the hearing, sent a note to the toll road agency and other parties in the case saying costs and expected crowd size could be too much for the facility.

The Bren Center "believes that a credible estimate for hearing attendance is well over 10,000 individuals," the letter, dated July 11, reads in part.

"As a result, the Bren Center notified us yesterday that â¦ it can no longer accommodate the number of people likely to attend the hearing, as the anticipated crowd exceeds its capacity and security resources."

Cathy Lawhon, a UC Irvine spokeswoman, said a summer camp being held near the center also would mean an increase in traffic beyond what it could handle.

"As the scope of the meeting grew larger, the impact on the campus was going to require more police and just more costs on our end to manage the scope of it," Lawhon said.

NOAA is reviewing its options, Luxton's letter said, which could include postponing the hearing while a new location is found.

But there's also a chance that the agency will hold no hearing at all.

"It would be difficult to accommodate a much larger crowd because the costs of a larger facility and increased security would exceed our current budget," the letter says.

The agency is mulling both the possibility of postponement - largely because the public must receive 30 days notice of a new location - and of holding no hearing, said NOAA spokesman Anson Franklin.

"The public comment period for written comments is still open, and will be extended, at least up until the hearing date," Franklin said. "Other options we're just taking a look at right now."

Environmental activists opposed to construction of the toll road, which would cut through San Onofre State Beach park as well as habitat for a variety of rare and sensitive species, pushed for a public hearing after the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor filed its appeal.

The appeal is possible under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. The U.S. Commerce secretary can overrule the state Coastal Commission's decision if he finds that the road meets larger policy goals.

The 16-mile extension of the 241 toll road is meant to complete the county's toll road network; its builders say it would relieve future traffic congestion in south county.

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